PHOTO GALLERY: 2010 450 WORLD CHAMPION TONY CAIROLI


KTM hired Cairoli away from Team Yamaha to ride the yet-to-be finished 350SXF. It was a success.


In Brazil Tony spent a little time doing burnouts on the podium.


Ken Roczen (right) was one of the first people to congratulate Tony on the 2010 title.


There is nothing as sweet as the confusion after winning a title.


Cairoli said he wanted to ride carefully in Brazil…does this look like it?


Tony strikes a pose.


It didn’t matter whether Cairoli got the holeshot or not, he came through by the end the majority of times.


Tony strikes a another pose.


Suzuki’s Clement Desalle was the only rider who could stick with Tony C, but he’ll have to wait another year.


There are 15 rounds in the 2010 World Championship?Cairoli only needed 13.


Tony gives Mike Alessi a champagne shower at Glen Helen.


The stick of celery makes the drink.

TONY CAIRIOLI SPECS
450 POLES………..3
450 LAPS LED……….225
450 MOTO WINS……….13
450 GRAND PRIX WINS……….7
450 GRAND PRIX PODIUMS……….11
2005 125/250 WORLD CHAMPION
2007 125/250 WORLD CHAMPION
2009 450 WORLD CHAMPION

2010 450 WORLD CHAMPION

Winning seven GP’s onboard his new KTM 350SXF, Cairoli has worked his way inside the top ten of all-time Grand Prix winners courtesy of a total of 36 Grand Prix wins?as many as Roger DeCoster and Mickael Pichon. Cairoli is currently the most successful Italian racer to have taken part in the FIM Motocross World Championship.
 
Entering his first FIM Motocross World Championship campaign onboard a 125cc machine in 2002, it took Cairoli two years to get to grips with the series and express his full potential. 2004 is actually the year the Sicilian met fellow Italian Claudio De Carli, managing his own Yamaha squad and offering Cairoli a ride. The association resulted into Tony’s maiden win in Namur, one of the toughest tracks ever, and a solid third place in the 125 Championship.
 
Cairoli and De Carli continued working together in 2005 with the goal of becoming World Champions and that is exactly what happened at the end of the season. Cairoli won six Grand Prix’s and took the 125/250 title despite two major mishaps: his disqualification at the French Grand Prix, which let rival Andrew McFarlane increase his points lead, and his scaphoid injury during the qualifying for the Dutch GP, which Cairoli, 19 years old, raced in pain just to seal the crown.

2006 was the year of Cairoli’s first title defense, but it ended with a runner-up position. After a difficult start to the season, Cairoli went on to take 12 moto wins – against the four of eventual Champion Christophe Pourcel?but it was too late to catch Pourcel, who had pulled away from the Italian in the meantime. Cairoli’s “never surrender” attitude saw the Italian win both heats at the final round in France, Pourcel’s home GP, but the Frenchman took the title.
 
2007 recorded Cairoli’s second 125/250 World Title, which came with two rounds before the end of the season at the GP of Northern Ireland, where runner up and defending Champ Pourcel picked up a severe back injury. Learning from the previous year’s mistakes, Cairoli lined up much stronger and dominated the season with 21 heat wins and 10 GP wins out of the series’ 15 meetings, holding the red plate in each single round. On top of that, Yamaha gave freshly crowned World Champion Cairoli the chance to race the British GP at Donington Park in the 450 class. Qualifying in 12th, Tony was second in heat one and won heat two, the result assuring his maiden overall win in the top class at his very first attempt. Completing the season with a winning return to the 125/250 class in Lierop, Cairoli had proved the strongest 250 rider of the year.
 
2008 ended much earlier than expected as a left knee injury at the South African 250 Grand Prix saw Cairoli abandon the series when he was holding a close second place in between eventual Champion Tyla Rattray and teammate Tommy Searle. The efforts leading Cairoli to four Grand Prix wins and two second places on the podium out of nine rounds vanished in South Africa during a first lap contact in moto one. The Italian tried to complete the rest of the heat in pain but had to pull out after just four laps.
 
2009 was the year of Cairoli’s permanent move to the 450 class, where he had already shown potential by winning a GP in 2007. Proving wrong all rumors about his fitness after his previous year’s knee injury, Cairoli took the 450 crown with gallantry in a season recording four Grand Prix wins and five other podiums. With his knee troubling him again before the Dutch Grand Prix, Cairoli overcame pain to collect the title with a sixth place overall. With the Motocross of Nations taking place in his home country Italy, Cairoli won the first race, but was unlucky to get caught in a group crash at the final heat and miss another potential success.
 
In 2010 Cairoli switched to KTM in order to debut the revolutionary KTM 350SXF. Cairoli made the most of the bike to take it to its first-ever success in Mantova where he snatched the 450 red plate from teammate Nagl. The result was followed by Valkenswaard’s win, with Cairoli dominating both heats. The Italian went on to build on his advantage by performing podium finishes as well as wins on all sorts of terrains?except for Bellpuig and Teutschenthal- and never left the red plate until he turned it into a title at the Brazilian GP. The event held a very small chance for Cairoli to take the Title but a technical failure of runner up Desalle in the final heat granted Cairoli his seventh Grand Prix win and fourth World Title with two rounds to go before the end of the FIM Motocross World Championship.
 
ANTONIO CAIROLI BIOGRAPHY
Name and surname…..Antonio Cairoli
Nationality……Italian
Place of birth…..Patti
Date of birth …9/23/1985
Website…www.tonycairoli.com
First GP raced …2002 125 GP of Belgium
World Titles…4 (2 MX1, 2 MX2)
First World Title…2005, MX2
Total GP wins…..36 (12 in MX1; 24 in MX2)
First GP win…..2004 250 GP of Wallonie, Namur
Last GP win…..2010 GP of Brazil

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